noun
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evil fortune; bad luck
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an unfortunate or disastrous event; calamity
Related Words
See affliction.
Etymology
Origin of misfortune
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even the way that she reacts to her misfortune — and a lot of it is self-inflicted — feels like a past version of me, or a low-vibrational version of me.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
A year after he lampooned a judge in a mocking poem, he had the misfortune of standing before him charged with seditious libel for a pamphlet satirizing the Church.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
The hard fact is that genius isn’t reserved for the worthy any more than misfortune is reserved for the wicked.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
Fans with the misfortune of living elsewhere scrambled to look at flights before presales start this weekend.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026
His misfortune was that he saw a cherry tree in a garden.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.